


Regulus Runs Away to James, Sirius, and Remus

by simplysirius



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Feels, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Heavy Angst, James x Regulus, Jegulus, M/M, One Shot, Pining, Relationship(s), Remus x Sirius, jegulus angst, jegulus fluff, regulus x james, sirius x remus, wolfstar, wolfstar fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:15:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29498658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplysirius/pseuds/simplysirius
Summary: In the summer before their seventh year, James, Sirius, and Remus are surprised to find a second Black brother on the doorstep of the Potter’s house, begging for help.
Relationships: Regulus Black/James Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 259





	Regulus Runs Away to James, Sirius, and Remus

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Tumblr @simplysirius for daily fics and fan art! I also take requests :)

In the summer days leading up to their seventh year, James, Sirius, and Remus lounged at the Potter’s, drinking in the last moments of hot sun and freedom before boarding the train back to Hogwarts.

Remus had just finished making a fresh kettle of tea, Sirius and James in the middle of scarfing down bowls of cereal, when, off the kitchen, a quiet knock rapped three times on the front door. Remus left the stove, wiping his hands on a towel, and disappeared down the hallway.

“It’s probably the postman with my new broom bristles,” James called, turning to Sirius with a smug grin. “I’ll be fifteen percent faster in the air now. Slytherin won’t stand a chance at the House Cup this year.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “That’s what you said last year before they beat us. I heard they’re looking good this year, too.”

“Whose side are you on, Black?”

“Uh…Sirius?” Remus said uncertainly, shuffling back into the kitchen empty handed. “It’s…for you.”

“What–?” The word died on Sirius tongue as he turned around in his chair, face to face with Regulus.

Regulus, standing in the middle of the Potter’s kitchen, backpack weighing down his shoulders, lip taken sharply between his teeth, his eyes flickering from Remus to Sirius until they finally settled on James.

He didn’t look hurt. His clothes weren’t frayed or burned from a barrage of hexes, and his skin was the same shade of polished porcelain as it was when James had kissed him goodbye in the shadowy underbelly of the castle that last night of sixth year. Regulus looked like Regulus, strong and proud and utterly terrified.

“Reg?” Sirius asked carefully, blinking quickly as if his brother was just a figment of his imagination. He had to be; Regulus was at home with their mother, back in London, preparing for his fifth year with plenty of trips to Knockturn Alley. “What are you doing here?”

“You said to come,” Regulus said, his sheepish glance not breaking from James. “If things got bad.”

“Here,” Remus said, coaxing him into his chair at the table, beside Sirius. “Do you like chamomile? I just made a fresh pot.” Regulus didn’t answer, but Remus pushed a cup in his hands anyways.

James tried to smile, tried to say something, tried to do anything except blink like an idiot, but he couldn’t. Not with thick tears collecting on Regulus’ long lashes as the tendrils of steam from the hot tea splashed over his face. James promised Regulus was welcomed any time he wanted, even if he just needed to chat in the middle of the night. But now Regulus was here, and James’ heart pounding in his chest so hard his ribs were liable to shatter any moment now.

Regulus was here, and there was no hiding how desperately he loved him.

“Can I talk to you?” Sirius asked quickly, not waiting for James’ response before wrapping his fingers around his wrist and tugging him up the stairs. Slamming James’ bedroom door, Sirius crossed his hands on his chest. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” James answered honestly, righting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Sirius scoffed. “Bullshit. Why is my brother standing in your kitchen staring at you like a lost dog?”

“I told him that if he ever needed a place to stay, he could come here.”

“A place to stay.”

“I assume you’re quite familiar with the concept,” James retorted bitterly, gesturing around. Sirius’ clothes always found a way into his bedroom, ragged band t-shirts thrown on the floor, nail polish on the dresser, hair ties on the night stand. “My house is a Black sanctuary, apparently.”

“Which I appreciate,” Sirius insisted through clenched teeth, “but Regulus isn’t me. What if he’s here to spy on us?”

“Huh?”

“If he’s working for the dark wizards. He could be here to gather intel.”

“Sirius, you know you’re talking about your own brother, right?”

“James, you don’t know him–”

“And what, you do?” James asked, biting his tongue as his shout reverberated around his bedroom. He huffed, digging his nails into the heels of his palms, deep enough to leave lasting marks. “You haven’t talked to him in how many years? Two? Three? How could you possibly know him? You don’t know the first thing about him!”

Sirius pursed his lips, watching James carefully. The way his nostrils flared and his jaw clenched; it wasn’t so unlike the shouting matches he would get into, fiercely defending his love for Remus until his lungs ran out of breath. “You do. You know him.”

It wasn’t accusatory. It was gentle curiosity; the dawn of a realization that Sirius had never seen coming.

James swallowed thickly, losing the courage to hold Sirius’ eyes. He nodded towards the floor. “Yes. I know him.”

“Does anybody else–”

“No,” James answered automatically. “No one else knows.”

The boys lapsed into a heavy silence, listening to the scrape of a spoon swirling around a tea cup, mumbled voices bantering back and forth from below.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” James whispered. “I tried not to get too deep, but…things just started happening and then I realized…I really didn’t want it to stop.”

Sirius shrugged, a lopsided smile tugging on his lips. “If I know one thing, it’s that you can’t stop yourself from falling in love. No matter how weird or messed up or scary it is. Love just happens.”

It was impossible, trying to stop his heart from lurching out of his chest every time he saw Remus walking down the hall, squinting at a book, breathing next to him at dinner. Sirius understood far too well that love is never a choice. Love demands to be heard.

James hummed in agreement. “You’re not mad?”

Sirius shook his head, rubbing his lips together. “If he’s with you…maybe I’ll get my brother back.” His body fell numb with the thought; it was something he never allowed himself to think about. Regulus would be lost to his mother, lost to a life pooled in the shadows, never to see daylight again. But maybe he wasn’t. Maybe, if he held on tight enough to James’ hand, he could live to see the sun breaking over the fjords in the morning, golden light spilling over the grassy fields, warming his skin and incinerating the murky claws raking at his body.

“I hope so,” James whispered.

Sirius and James slipped down the stairs not long after, James with his hands shoved deep in his pockets, Sirius still slowly processing everything as his eyes landed on Remus and Regulus quietly talking around the table.

“You wanna go get some muffins at the bakery in town, Moony?” Sirius asked a little too cheerfully as they entered the kitchen.

Translating immediately, Remus flashed a warm smile at Regulus before nodding, heading towards the door without another word. Sirius followed on his heels, stopping behind Regulus’ chair and resting his hand on his head, just the slightest ruffle of his hair.

Regulus stiffened under his touch, something that used to be so familiar, now a foreign gesture that froze his blood.

The door closed softly behind them, leaving Regulus and James alone. Settling beside him, slotting their knees together, James took Regulus’ hands, slowly lacing their fingers together.

“I’m sorry for intruding,” Regulus tried to apologize, before James curtly shook his head.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

James narrowed his eyes, noting the way Regulus’ fingers tightened around his, knuckles paling white in time with his flushed cheeks. “Are you okay?”

“She asked me to take it,” Regulus admitted softly, nearly losing his words to a sob threatening to rib his body in two.

“But you didn’t,” James said, wishing his voice was full of confidence, not fear. “You didn’t take it, right?”

Regulus closed his eyes, the tendons in his neck bulging as he clung to what little sanity he had left. James couldn’t wait for a response. He pulled one sleeve of Regulus’ shirt up, heaving a relieved sigh when there was nothing but pure, untouched skin on the underside of his forearm. But that still left another arm, and the nerves pulled James’ muscles taut as he lifted the other sleeve.

Nothing.

Collapsing into James’ chest, Regulus finally succumbed to the tears. James held him tightly, arms wrapping around frail shoulders, rocking him back and forth.

“She’ll find me. She’ll figure out I’m here and she’ll force me this time. And you could get hurt and–”

“No one is going to find you, and no one is going to get hurt,” James promised fiercely, taking Regulus’ face between his hands. “I’m not going to let her near you, do you understand? She’s not going to get past me, or Remus, or Sirius–”

“Sirius would tell her,” Regulus said quickly, shaking his head.

James frowned. “I know you’re not going to believe me, but I promise you he wouldn’t. He wants you safe. He loves you. No matter what happened in the past, he loves you. We all love you.”

“Yeah. Okay,” Regulus said noncommittally, his lips still twisting in disbelief. “I won’t be here long. Just until I figure out what to do.”

“You’re staying until we go back to school, that’s pretty much settled,” James declared, and Regulus huffed, but the faintest trace of a smile gave him away. “How did you get here, anyways?”

“I took the train from London.”

“And then?”

Regulus raised an eyebrow, like the answer should have been obvious. “And then I walked.”

“From the station?” For the first time, James noticed Regulus’ shoes, caked in mud, the hem of his trousers not faring any better. His hair was disheveled, sticking up in strange places and knotted in the back. It had rained overnight, a heavy, soaking deluge that dripped through the holes in the roof of the house. Regulus hadn’t just walked in the mud; he had walked in the rain, through the night, the closest train station miles away. “Reg! You’re exhausted. You need to sleep.”

“I’m fine,” Regulus tried to insist, doing his best to hide a yawn crawling up his throat, “Sirius and Remus–”

“Sirius and Remus will be gone for a while. C’mon.” James pulled Regulus up to his room, ignoring his weak complaints.

Stripping his clothes and pulling on the single pair of sweatpants from his backpack, Regulus fell into James’ bed, suddenly enveloped in the sheets and blankets and pillows that smelled just like him, all earthy grass and gentle musk. James closed the blinds, slipping the room into a comforting darkness.

“James?” Regulus called suddenly, propped up on his elbow. “Will you stay?”

Nudging beside him under the covers, James smiled against Regulus’ skin as he pressed a chase kiss to his jaw. “Of course.”

Safely tucked in a pair of strong arms, Regulus sighed, lulled to sleep by the even rhythm of James’ heart beating against his. The house was new and the thought of seeing Sirius again in the afternoon was daunting, but James was soft and familiar against his skin, a home shrouded in a dazzling haze amidst the murky shadows.


End file.
